February, 2021

• 21 February

  Canada lenders exit pandemic year with profit growth in reach

  

  Bloomberg Canada’s largest banks are within striking distance of resuming profit growth — with the help of government programs that prevented major loan losses. The country’s six biggest banks are expected to post an 11% average decline in adjusted earnings per share when they report fiscal first-quarter results next week, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The comparable quarter ...

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• 21 February

  Nigeria’s biggest bank targets 30% profit outside home market

  

  Bloomberg Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender is looking to generate as much as 30% of profit outside its home market, following a series of acquisitions spanning East and West Africa last year. The lender expects African subsidiaries and its UK unit to account for about 25-30% of profit before tax in the next three to five years from 21% ...

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• 21 February

  China imposes further curbs on online lending amid clampdown

  

  Bloomberg China’s banking regulator imposed new restrictions on banks and financial institutions working with online microlenders including those led by Jack Ma’s Ant Group, dealing further blows to one of the fastest-growing business segments for financial-technology behemoths. Banks must cap overall joint lending with internet platforms or other partners at no more than 50% of their outstanding loans, the China ...

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• 21 February

  Bank Indonesia cuts rates, outlook as recovery stalls

  

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low and downgraded its growth outlook amid fears that a resurgence in Covid-19 cases is slowing economy’s recovery. Bank Indonesia slashed the seven-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 3.5%, the lowest level since the rate was introduced in 2016. The move was expected by 22 ...

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• 21 February

  Deutsche Bank cuts bonus pool plans after ECB’s criticism

  

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG scaled back plans for its bonus pool after the European Central Bank (ECB) objected to proposed payout levels, highlighting the challenges of rewarding top performers while heeding demands for restraint during the global pandemic. Germany’s largest lender had initially planned to pay out more than 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) for staff performance in 2020, but that ...

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• 21 February

  Sudan central bank unifies exchange rate

  Bloomberg Sudan’s central bank said on Sunday it was implementing a unified exchange rate system, part of broader measures aimed at reviving its struggling economy. The central bank instructed banks and exchange bureaus to adopt the new system with immediate effect, according to a statement on its website. The move aims to curb volatility in the exchange rate at a ...

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• 21 February

  A 2020 winner in Asia’s stock market is now biggest loser

  

  Bloomberg While technology stocks continue to front Asia’s equity rally, one hot sector from 2020 has fallen to the bottom of the leaderboard: health care. Essentially flat year-to-date, a gauge of the sector is the worst-performing in Asia, lagging the region’s benchmark by eight percentage points. It is on track to underperform the MSCI Asia Pacific Index for a third ...

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• 21 February

  The runway towards higher Treasury yields looks free and clear

  

  Bloomberg The obstacles to higher yields in the world’s biggest debt market are slowly melting away. Bond bears appear to be having more than just a moment here at the start of 2021, with Treasury yields finally busting out of long-held ranges to levels last seen in the early days of the pandemic. Most Wall Street analysts see yields gliding ...

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• 21 February

  UAE ranks first in Arab world for remote working, 31st globally

  

  DUBAI / WAM Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Teleworking Applications, has said that the Government of the UAE, led by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has become an inspiring role model for those governments seeking to move into the future, ...

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• 21 February

  Crude extends slide as Texas oil wells resume productions

  

  Bloomberg Oil fell to the lowest in a week as output slowly resumed in Texas, while margins for processing gasoline surged as Gulf Coast refineries are seen taking weeks to restart operations after the deep freeze. Crude futures in New York plunged $1.28, its biggest decline in dollar terms since late December. Producers including Marathon Oil Corp are using restored ...

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